Part 14
The riven dell, late spring 347

Silverleaf Tavern

Smaed stood still, enchanted, listening for a few moments to the singing. Then, mounting the porch and passing between two welcoming flambeau cressets, he entered the tavern. It was empty except for the barkeep, a young yet ageless maiden with long flaxen hair. She it must have been who was singing but she had stopped as soon as she heard his footfall on the porch.

Smaed bowed deeply and, smiling, introduced himself politely, then took a barstool and ordered an ale. He looked at the barmaid with interest. She was tall and had a small, pert face with wide, honest eyes. She smiled back shyly and welcomed the weary wayfarer in his travel-stained gear, and replied with her name that sounded to Smaed like Reeva. Despite her shyness she bore herself with dignity and grace and gave a strong impression of being independent and self-contained. Smaed was strangely moved by her presence, distant yet alluring. He wondered if she was elf. He had heard that elven maidens were very pretty and she certainly was.

As he sipped his ale he tried to ask Riva some questions. He learned this was indeed Silverleaf village, but that all were asleep or away on journeys. And, yes, she was herself of elvenkind. He asked her if there was an elf living in the village called Talis, but she knew no-one of that name. Smaed was disappointed but not surprised. But then she added that the best person to ask might be Aegnor the bowyer, who lived in the next house upstream in the dell. But further than this information Smaed came not. Her Britannian was limited and conversation petered out.

He looked around the tavern with curiosity. It was much like any other tavern, with the bar and the ubiquitous dartboard on the wall. But it possessed none of the shabbiness of many taverns that he had frequented. It was well-appointed and spotlessly clean, with scrubbed tables and high-backed, cushion-seated armchairs. It was also well-lit by lanterns giving out a soft light. There was a lantern on each table and three lanterns along the outer bannister of the staircase leading to the floor above. In the northern corner facing the door through which he had come was a bear rug and on this a work-bench.On the bench sat a number of items that he could not identify. Most puzzling of these was a crystal, the like of which he had never before seen. He had not noticed it when he had entered, as his attention was fixed on the barmaid, but now he looked again and saw that it pulsated with light, as if it were alive, and he wondered what this strange object could be and what its purpose was.

But now it was getting late and was quite dark. Smaed was weary and feeling drowsy from the ale. Taking his leave, he rose and left the tavern, uncertain whether at such a late hour he should go to Aegnor’s house. But no, it would better wait until the morrow. He made secure camp a bit upstream, and soon fell soundly asleep.